Communication information sharing system, communication information sharing method, communication information sharing program

ABSTRACT

A communication information sharing system according to the invention includes a first user terminal which first transmits a conversational sentence, a second user terminal which first receives a conversational sentence, and a management server which perform information management so that both terminals can display their mutual characters on the respective terminals.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to information communication which isperformed between terminals connectable to a network.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, as the Internet has become popular, terminalsconnectable to the Internet (networks) have become rapidly popular. Assuch terminals, mobile telephones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants),notebook personal computers and the like can be enumerated.

In addition, owing to these terminals, electronic mails (e-mails) andchat for exchange of messages (conversational sentences) betweenterminals have become frequently used.

Incidentally, chat is also called on-line talk, and character data whichconstitute a message can be sent on line to a remote terminal, andelectronic mails can send not only character data but also image dataand music data.

However, mobile telephones are narrow in communication bandwidth andlack stability, and are in some cases somewhat unsuitable for frequentexchanges of large data like image data, because the exchange of largedata takes time or for other reasons.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

A system has been proposed which is operative to liven up conversationbetween the above-mentioned terminals by causing a character which isset for each of the terminals to be displayed on the other, duringcommunication (chat) of messages (conversational sentences)therebetween.

In the field of communications using personal computers, a network chatsystem is known in which a user sets a character called avatar andallows this character to freely roam on the virtual world and have aconversation with another character.

In the case of this network chat system, it has been general to usecharacters by downloading previously-selected characters or byinstalling on personal computers character data distributed on mediasuch as CD-ROMs.

In addition, as broadband communications have become available andhigh-capacity transmission has become realized, it has also becomepossible to transmit a character itself as streaming data to a remoteterminal and dynamically display the character thereon.

In the case where chat using such characters is to be realized withsmall terminals such as mobile telephones and PDAs (Personal DigitalAssistants), by what method a character set by a user should bedisplayed on a terminal of a remote user is expected to become aproblem.

Specifically, the storage capacities of mobile telephones are smallcompared to personal computers. For this reason, there is, for example,the problem that a large amount of data of characters to be used byremote users cannot be stored in mobile terminals.

In addition, in the case where a character set by a user does not existas data in the memory of a terminal of a remote user, how the charactershould be downloaded into the terminal of the remote user becomes aproblem.

Namely, it has been demanded to realize an art which enables each ofusers to appropriately display his/her desired character on theterminals of the other in the case where they enjoy chat using theircharacters.

The invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned matters, anda problem to be solved by the invention is to provide a communicationinformation sharing system, a communication information sharing method,and a communication information sharing program all of which enableinformation which is a communication object to be easily shared betweenterminals.

The invention also provides a communication information sharing system,a communication information sharing method, and a communicationinformation sharing program all of which enable information which is acommunication object to be appropriately displayed between terminalswhich perform communication.

Further, the invention provides a communication information sharingsystem, a communication information sharing method, and a communicationinformation sharing program all of which enable a remote communicationterminal to be easily and quickly identified.

The invention adopts the following means to solve the above-mentionedmatters. Namely, in the case of transmitting, among at least twoterminals, information as well as signs and images that are symbolic ofa terminal, the invention is a communication information sharing systemwhich enables signs and images mutually transmitted between terminals tobe mutually output at the respective terminals.

Specifically, the invention is a communication system which includes atleast two user terminals connected via a network to performcommunication of data therebetween, and a management server whichperforms management of identifiers added to information symbolic of therespective user terminals.

The construction of the communication system includes transmitting meansfor transmitting an identifier together with data, receiving means forreceiving an identifier, identifier storing means for storing thereceived identifier, identifier sharing means for causing an identifierto be returned to another of the user terminals to coincide with anidentifier stored in the identifier storing means, i.e., an identifiertransmitted from one of the user terminals, replying means for returningthe identifier, receiving means for receiving the identifier, acquiringmeans for acquiring information associated with the identifier, andoutputting means for outputting the information.

The identifiers which identify these user terminals are identifiersindicative of contents registered during user registration performed byusers, and identifiers indicative of the capabilities of the individualterminals. As these identifiers, it is possible to enumerate identifiersindicative of user ID, IP (Internet Protocols) addresses, userpasswords, and specifications, such as kind and model, of the userterminals, identifiers indicative of ID numbers unique to the individualterminals, or the like. Incidentally, in the case where the terminalsare mobile telephones, its telephone numbers can be used as therespective identifiers.

The reason why these identifiers indicative of the specifications of theterminals are stored in the identifier storing means is that thespecifications of the terminals contain small differences depending onthe manufacturing makers of the terminals or the kinds thereof.

For example, in the case where information associated with a transmittedidentifier is an image, some kinds of images cannot be displayed,because different kinds of terminals use liquid crystal displays whichdiffer in performance (such as picture size, the number of pixels andthe number of display colors).

However, by storing the identifiers indicative of the specifications inthe identifier storing means in this manner, it is also possible todetermine whether a remote terminal can output information.

In addition, the identifier storing means in the invention storesidentifiers which identify the respective user terminals, andidentifiers indicative of links to other servers which manage charactersassociated with the respective identifiers.

The identifiers of links to other servers which manage informationassociated with the respective identifiers are identifiers indicative oflinks to sites from which to download characters, links to portal sites,and the like in the case where, for example, information associated withthe identifier is a character.

The management server of the invention may also include identifiersharing means for causing identifiers of both user terminals to coincidewith each other so that personal information having an identifiertransmitted from one of the user terminals can be outputted at anotherof the user terminals. This personal information is preferablyinformation relative to a schedule or information relative to anaddress.

Furthermore, the identifier storing means of the invention may storeidentifiers of links to servers or data bases which manage personalinformation associated with identifiers.

According to this construction, it is possible to prevent personalinformation from being erroneously transmitted. In addition, in the casewhere schedules and addresses are managed by a database in a userterminal, it is possible to prevent a schedule or an address from beingerroneously inputted by a user, by directly accessing this database.

Furthermore, in the identifier storing means, as identifier associatedwith the identifiers which identify the user terminals, for example,personal information such as age, sex and address, i.e., user attributeinformation, can be enumerated.

Incidentally, it is also possible to adopt a construction in which theseidentifiers indicative of user attributes are issued by issuing meansprovided in the management server.

The invention is also the above-mentioned management server. Namely, themanagement server according to the invention includes receiving meansfor receiving an identifier transmitted from a user terminal, identifierstoring means for storing the identifier, identifier sharing means forcausing the stored identifier and an identifier to be returned toanother user terminal to coincide with each other, guiding means forperforming guidance for acquiring, on the basis of the identifier,information associated with the identifier, and transmitting means fortransmitting the coincident identifier to another user terminal.

In addition, in the management server of the invention, when anidentifier to be transmitted is not stored in the identifier storingmeans, i.e., the first identifier that has been transmitted, theidentifier is registered by registering means for registeringidentifiers in predetermined identifier storing means.

In this manner, by storing and registering identifiers in the identifierstoring means of the management server, as long as an identifiertransmitted from a data-transmitting-side user terminal is not altered,a data-receiving-side user terminal may store only informationcorresponding to the transmitted identifier in itself.

In addition, the management server of the invention may be constructedto have updating means for updating registration of identifiers, inpreparation for the case where an identifier transmitted from thedata-transmitting-side user terminal is altered.

As identifiers which can be altered, it is possible to enumerate, inaddition to identifiers associated with information symbolic ofterminals, identifiers indicative of the specifications of terminalsnecessary when a user changes the kinds of terminals.

In addition, the invention is also a user terminal which transmitsinformation and a user terminal which receives information. Namely, eachof the user terminals in the invention is characterized by includingidentifier storing means for storing information symbolic of a remotecommunication terminal and an identifier associated with theinformation, and comparing means for comparing the information withinformation stored previously in the identifier storing means, and theuser terminal acquires predetermined information on the basis of acomparison result.

The invention is also a communication information sharing system whichenables at least two user terminals to communicate characters associatedwith identifiers, when the at least two user terminals are tocommunicate conversational sentences, as by chat or an electronic mailwhich performs communication of conversational sentences and charactersin real time. The construction of the communication information sharingsystem includes transmitting means for transmitting identifiersassociated with characters symbolic of the respective user terminalstogether with conversational sentences, receiving means for receivingthe identifiers, identifier sharing means for causing an identifier tobe returned to another of the user terminals to coincide with anidentifier transmitted from one of the user terminals, replying meansfor returning the coincident identifier, receiving means for receivingthe identifier, acquiring means for acquiring a character associatedwith the identifier, and display means for displaying the character.

Since the identifier sharing means for causing a transmitted identifierand an identifier to be transmitted to coincide with each other isprovided in this manner, characters (information) associated with mutualidentifiers between user terminals which perform communication of datacan be outputted to the respective terminals, namely, the characters canbe shared between the user terminals.

In addition, by realizing the sharing of information, it is possible toreduce the number of times of troublesome operations such as directdownloading of images in communication environments like mobiletelephones which are narrow in bandwidth and lack stability.

Furthermore, the management server is provided with the guiding means asdescribed above, and when a transmitted identifier and an identifier tobe transmitted are to be made coincident with each other, if thetransmitted identifier is not stored in the identifier storing means, alink to another server which manages identifier storing means in whichthe identifier is stored is established by the guiding means. Then, theuser terminal downloads the necessary character (information).

Accordingly, if a user terminal which is a remote communication terminaldoes not have a character (information) of a terminal which hastransmitted data, downloading needs only to be performed at each time,whereby the character of the remote communication terminal can bepositively displayed on the display device of the terminal.

In addition, since the necessary character needs only to be downloadedas the need arises, even in the case of a terminal with a small memorycapacity such as a mobile telephone, it is possible to avoid the problemthat the terminal cannot register a character of a remote communicationterminal because of its shortage of memory and cannot display thecharacter.

In addition, each of terminals which communicate with each other candisplay (output) a character (information) symbolic of itself on theother, whereby each of the terminals can be easily notified which useris accessing it.

Of course, the information associated with the identifiers may be notonly characters but also images of users. In the case where the faces ofusers are displayed, each of the users can clearly know which user isparticularly now talking with him/her.

It is also possible to adopt a construction which varies thesecharacters and images according to conversation. For example, in thecase where the face of a human or an animal is displayed as a character,it is possible to adopt a movement such as the movement of the mouthaccording to conversation. Incidentally, the characters and the imagesmay be either two-dimensional or three-dimensional. In addition, it isalso possible to adopt a construction which adds sound effects or musicto these characters and images. Of course, a construction which outputsonly sound effects and music may also be adopted.

Furthermore, the invention is also a communication method to beperformed by at least two user terminals connected via a network toperform communication of conversational sentences therebetween, and amanagement server which performs management of identifiers added tocharacters symbolic of the respective user terminals.

A specific method includes a step of transmitting the identifierstogether with the conversational sentences, a step of receiving theidentifiers, a step of causing an identifier to be returned to anotherof the user terminals to coincide with an identifier transmitted fromone of the user terminals, a step of returning the coincidentidentifier, a step of receiving the identifier, a step of acquiring acharacter associated with the identifier, and a step of displaying thecharacter on a display device of said another user terminal.

The invention is also a program computer-executable by at least two userterminals connected via a network to perform communication ofconversational sentences therebetween, and a management server whichperforms management of identifiers added to a character symbolic of therespective user terminals This program includes a step of transmittingthe identifiers together with the conversational sentences, a step ofreceiving the identifiers, a step of causing an identifier to bereturned to another of the user terminals to coincide with an identifiertransmitted from one of the user terminals, a step of returning thecoincident identifier, a step of receiving the identifier, a step ofacquiring a character associated with the identifier, and a step ofdisplaying the character on a display device of said another userterminal.

The invention is also an information sharing method including a step ofreceiving personal information, a step of causing the identifier addedto the personal information to coincide with an identifier of personalinformation to be returned to another of the user terminals, a step ofreturning personal information based on the coincident identifier, astep of receiving the personal information, a step of editing thepersonal information, a step of transmitting the personal information toanother of the user terminals, and a step of displaying the personalinformation on a display device of the user terminal.

In addition, the invention is also a program to be executed by acomputer of a management server which performs management of identifiersadded to personal information inputted from at least two user terminalsconnected via a network to perform communication of conversationalsentences therebetween.

This program includes a step of transmitting personal information towhich an identifier is added, together with a conversational sentence, astep of receiving the personal information, a step of causing theidentifier added to the personal information to coincide with anidentifier of personal information to be returned to another of the userterminals, a step of returning personal information based on thecoincident identifier, a step of receiving the personal information, astep of editing the personal information, a step of transmitting thepersonal information to another of the user terminals, and a step ofdisplaying the personal information on a display device of the userterminal.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the invention,it is possible to provide a communication information sharing system, acommunication information sharing method, and a communicationinformation sharing program all of which enable information which is acommunication object to be easily shared between a plurality ofterminals.

In addition, according to the invention, it is also possible to providea communication information sharing system, a communication informationsharing method, and a communication information sharing program all ofwhich enable information (character) which is a communication object tobe appropriately displayed between terminals which performcommunication.

Further, according to the invention, it is possible to provide acommunication information sharing system, a communication informationsharing method, and a communication information sharing program all ofwhich enable a remote communication terminal to be easily and quicklyidentified.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system conceptual diagram of a communication informationsharing system according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the communication informationsharing system according to the first embodiment and a secondembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a hardware construction diagram of a management serveraccording to the first embodiment and the second embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the sequence in which a first user terminal inthe first embodiment acquires a character of a second user terminal;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the sequence in which the first user terminalin the first embodiment acquires the character of the second userterminal;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the sequence in which the second user terminalin the first embodiment acquires a character of the first user terminal;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the sequence in which the first user terminalin the first embodiment acquires the character of the second userterminal;

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram concerning a character acquiring methodaccording to the first embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a system conceptual diagram concerning a communicationinformation sharing system according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the processing process of thecommunication information sharing system according to the secondembodiment; and

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the processing process of thecommunication information sharing system according to the secondembodiment.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Communication information sharing systems according to the presentembodiments will be described below. In the following description, inaddition to the communication information sharing systems according tothe present embodiments, communication information sharing methods suchas execution sequences for the communication information sharing systemswill be described.

First Embodiment

First, a communication information sharing system 1 according to thepresent embodiment will be schematically described with reference toFIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of the communicationinformation sharing system 1 according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2shows a functional block diagram of the communication informationsharing system 1 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 shows ahardware construction diagram of the communication information sharingsystem 1 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the communication information sharing system 1according to the present embodiment uses, as communication means, chatwhich enables conversational sentences to be communicated in real timebetween a user terminal (hereinafter referred to as the first userterminal) 2 which first transmits a conversational sentence and a userterminal (hereinafter referred to as the second user terminal) 3 whichfirst receives a conversational sentence.

Each of the first user terminal 2 and the second user terminal 3 has acharacter image (hereinafter referred to as the character) foridentifying a respective one of the terminals. Incidentally, thischaracter image 4 may use not only an existing character but also acharacter originally created by an individual, or may use any otherimage, such as a photograph of a user's face, with which a user terminalcan be identified/specified.

Further, the communication information sharing system 1 according to thepresent embodiment is provided with a management server 5 which performsinformation management between both user terminals, so that the firstuser terminal 2 and the second user terminal 3 can display the mutualcharacters 4 on the respective terminals.

As shown in FIG. 1, if the mutual user terminals do not have therespective characters indicative of the first user terminal 2 and thesecond user terminal 3, this management server 5 downloads the necessarycharacter 4 and causes the character 4 to be shared between both userterminals.

The construction of the communication information sharing system 1according to the present embodiment will be described below withreference to FIG. 2. First of all, the first user terminal 2 and thesecond user terminal 3 will be described. In the following description,since the first user terminal 2 and the second user terminal 3 havesimilar system constructions, both user terminals will be collectivelyreferred to as the user terminal.

As shown in FIG. 2, the user terminal has a receiving part (receivingmeans) 6 a, 6 b and a transmitting part (transmitting means) 7 a, 7 bfor performing communication of data with a remote communicationterminal. In the communication of data, the communication of thecharacters 4 indicative of the respective terminals, in addition toconversational sentences, is also carried out.

Each of these characters 4 has a plurality of identifiers indicative ofthe attributes of itself. As the identifiers, for example, an identifierindicative of a link to a character providing server 30 or a providerwhich handles the characters 4, an identifier indicative of a link to adownload server from which the characters 4 can be downloaded, and thelike, can be enumerated.

The user terminal is provided with a storage table (identifier storingmeans) 8 a, 8 b which stores these characters 4 and identifiers.

In addition, user information specifying a user terminal which hasaccessed once is stored in the storage table 8 a, 8 b. As this userinformation, firstly, information indicative of the specifications ofthe user terminal, i.e., information such as the kind/the model and thelike of the user terminal and information relative to the user terminalsuch as a telephone number which specifies the user terminal, can beenumerated. Secondly, attribute information on a user associated withthe information relative to the user terminal can be enumerated. Thisuser attribute information contains items to be registered during userregistration, and in many cases contains personal information on theuser such as age, sex, address and telephone number.

In the following description of the present embodiments, the identifiersassociated with each of the characters 4 are generally referred to ascontent IDs, the identifiers attached to the information relative to theuser terminals are referred to as device IDs, and the identifiersattached to the attribute information on users are referred to asprofile IDs.

Further, the user terminal is provided with a comparing part 9 a, 9 bwhich compares and verifies the character 4 stored in theabove-mentioned storage table 8 a, 8 b and the character 4 received froma remote communication terminal. If it is determined that the character4 received from this comparing part 9 a, 9 b is similar to the character4 stored in the storage table, the necessary character 4 is extractedand communicated from the storage table 8 a, 8 b.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the received character 4 isa character which is not stored in the storage table 8 a, 8 b, thecharacter 4 needs to be acquired from outside the user terminal.

As means for acquiring the character 4 from outside the user terminal,means which downloads the character 4 from the character providingserver 30 which provides the character 4 is most suitable.

In addition, the user terminal is provided with an input part (inputmeans) 10 a, 10 b for inputting conversational sentences, and a displaypart (display means) 11 a, 11 b which displays a conversational sentenceor the character 4 transmitted from a remote communication terminal.Incidentally, since the user terminal according to the presentembodiment is a mobile telephone, it is assumed that the input part 10a, 10 b includes button keys on which figures of 0 to 9 andpredetermined signs are respectively displayed, and the display part 11a, 11 b is a liquid crystal display.

User terminals each having this construction perform communication ofconversational sentences and the characters 4 by means of chat.

The system construction of the management server 5 will be describedbelow. As shown in FIG. 2, the management server 5 has a receiving part(receiving means) 12 which receives various kinds of data transmittedfrom the first user terminal 2 or the second user terminal 3 and areplying part (replying means) 13 which returns various kinds ofprocessing performed in the management server 5 to the first userterminal 2 or the second user terminal 3.

The management server 5 is also provided with an identifier storing part(identifier storing means) 14 which stores various kinds of identifierscontained in data transmitted from the user terminals. The identifierstoring part 14 has a content ID table 15 which stores identifiersassociated with the characters 4 transmitted from both user terminals,i.e., content IDs, a device ID table 16 for identifying the individualuser terminals, and a profile ID table 17 which stores profile IDsassociated with the device IDs.

Furthermore, the management server 5 according to the present embodimentis provided with an issuing part (issuing means) 18 which issues theseprofile IDs. This issuing part 18, when user registration is performedand various kinds of IDs are sent from the user terminal, creates/issuesa profile ID on the basis of user information registered during the userregistration.

The profile IDs, the device IDs and the content IDs are all associatedwith one another. Accordingly, if the management server 5 is to identifya user terminal, the management server 5 can identify the user terminalby tracing transmitted IDs.

Further, the management server 5 is provided with an identifier sharingpart (identifier sharing means) 29 which compensates for the differencebetween IDs so that an ID transmitted from one of the user terminals andan ID to be transmitted from the other coincide with each other.

In this manner, by causing a content ID received by the identifiersharing part 29 and a content ID to be transmitted to coincide with eachother, the character 4 of one of the user terminals and the character 4of the other can be shared by the mutual user terminals.

In addition, the management server 5 is provided with a registrationpart 19 which registers various kinds of IDs and an updating part 20which updates registration. If various kinds of IDs transmitted from auser terminal are not stored in the identifier storing part 14, thisregistration part 19 newly registers the IDs in the identifier storingmeans.

However, if the IDs transmitted from the user terminal are registeredone after another by the registration part 19, which ID is being used bythe current user terminal becomes unclear. Namely, what kind of terminalor what character is being used by the user terminal at the present timebecomes indefinite, so that a user cannot be identified.

To solve this problem, the updating part (updating means) 20 isprovided. For example, if settings are adopted which cause the updatingpart 20 to update IDs each time an ID is received, constantly newinformation can be held, and users can be positively identified.

In addition, the management server 5 is provided with a guiding part(guiding means) 21. If the content ID table 15 does not have a contentID associated with the character 4 transmitted from a user, this guidingpart 21 performs the processing of downloading the necessary character 4from a server which performs provision and distribution of thecharacters 4.

Furthermore, a link table 28 which stores addresses linked to serverswhich perform provision/distribution of the characters 4, addresses oflinks to download sites, addresses of links to portal webs, and thelike, is provided in the guiding part 21.

The system construction of the management server 5 is as describedabove. The hardware constructions of the management server 5 and theuser terminal (including the transmission-side user terminal and thereception-side user terminal) will be described below.

First, the user terminal will be described below. As shown in FIG. 3,the management server 5 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 22 whichstores programs for performing various kinds of processing and data suchas various kinds of IDs transmitted from the user terminal, a centralprocessing unit (hereinafter referred to as the CPU) 23 which executesthe programs stored in this ROM, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 24 whichtemporarily stores programs and data to be processed by this CPU 23, ahard disk 25 which stores programs and data to be processed by the CPU23, and a communication interface 26 which performs communication ofcommunication data via a network in accordance with a command from theCPU 23, and the ROM 22, the CPU 23, the RAM 24, the hard disk 25 and thecommunication interface 26 are connected via a bus (BUS) 27.

This ROM stores not only a main program responsible for controlling themanagement server 5 but also programs for executing various kinds offunctions.

Further, the hard disk 25 stores the content ID table 15, the profile IDtable 17, the device ID table 16, and the link table 28 provided in theguiding part 21, all of which are shown in FIG. 2.

The CPU 23, on the basis of the various kinds of programs stored in theROM, activates the identifier sharing part 29, the registration part 19,the issuing part 18, the updating part 20, the guiding part 21 and thelike, to cause them to execute their processing. The hardwareconstruction of the management server 5 is as described above.

The hardware construction of the user terminal will be described below.Since the hardware construction of the user terminal is nearly the sameas the hardware construction of the management server 5, theillustration of the hardware construction of the user terminal isomitted.

The hardware construction of the user terminal (the transmission-sideuser terminal, the reception-side user terminal) according to thepresent embodiment includes a CPU, a ROM and a communication interface,similarly to the hardware construction of the above-described managementserver 5. This CPU performs control processing of the above-mentionedvarious kinds of functions of the user terminal.

Furthermore, the user terminal has a volatile RAM and a non-volatileRAM. A storage table is stored in this non-volatile RAM. In addition,the user terminal has an input part and a display part connected to eachother via a bus.

The CPU 23 activates/executes the input part, the display part, acomparing part and the like by executing predetermined programs. Thehardware construction of the user terminal is as described above.

A communication information sharing method which operates thecommunication information sharing system 1 according to the presentembodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown inFIGS. 4 and 5.

First, the CPU, not shown, of the first user terminal 2 executes theprocessing of transmitting a mail which invites the second user terminal3 to perform continuous communication (hereinafter referred to as chat)with the first user terminal 2 (in FIG. 1, “INVITATION MAIL”), from thetransmitting part 7 a shown in FIG. 2 to the second user terminal 3(S01).

At the same time that the mail is transmitted to the second userterminal 3, the telephone number and the duration ID of the first userterminal 2 are transmitted from the first user terminal 2 to themanagement server 5 (S02). This duration ID means the number of updatesby which the data of the first user terminal 2 is updated by theupdating part 20 of the management server 5.

The telephone number and the duration ID transmitted from the first userterminal 2 are associated with other data for identifying the first userterminal 2, and these other data are stored in the identifier storingpart 14. Incidentally, the other data indicate a device ID whichidentifies the kind and the model of the user terminal, a content IDassociated with a character used by the user terminal, and the like.

When the “invitation mail” is transmitted from the first user terminal2, the CPU, not shown, of the second user terminal 3 determines whetherthe receiving part 6 b has received the mail (S03). If the CPUdetermines that the receiving part 6 b has not received the “invitationmail” from the first user terminal 2, the CPU executes the processing ofcausing the first user terminal 2 to display a picture of an indicationto the effect that the mail has not been received (S04). Thus, theprocess comes to an end.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the mail from the first userterminal 2 has been received by the receiving part 6 b of the seconduser terminal 3, the telephone number and the duration ID of the firstuser terminal 2 that are stored in the storage table and the telephonenumber and the duration ID of the first user terminal 2 that have beentransmitted from the first user terminal 2 are compared by the comparingpart 9 b of the second user terminal 3 (S05).

If it is determined that the telephone number and the duration ID thathave been transmitted from the first user terminal 2 and the telephonenumber and the duration ID of the first user terminal 2 that are storedin the storage table are the same (S06), this indicates that the data ofthe first user terminal 2 has not been updated. Namely, in the firstuser terminal 2 in this case, the kind of character to be used duringchat has also not been updated.

For this reason, the second user terminal 3 extracts from the storagetable 8 b a content ID corresponding to the character 4 used by thefirst user terminal 2 (S07).

Then, the second user terminal 3 displays the character 4 of the firstuser terminal 2 by means of the display part 11 b (S15).

On the other hand, if it is determined in Step 06 by the comparing part9 b of the second user terminal 3 that the telephone number and theduration ID that have been transmitted from the first user terminal 2and the telephone number and the duration ID of the first user terminal2 that are stored in the storage table 8 b of the second user terminal 3are mutually different (S06), this indicates that the data of the firstuser terminal 2 has been updated.

Then, the second user terminal 3 needs to acquire the character 4 whichis being used by the first user terminal 2. Accordingly, the CPU 23 ofthe management server 5 executes the processing of causing the displaypart 11 b of the second user terminal 3 to display a picture forselecting whether to download the character 4 (S08).

If it is determined that the character 4 is not to be downloaded fromthe second user terminal 3 (S09), an arbitrary character stored in thestorage table 8 b of the second user terminal 3 is automaticallyselected (S10).

On the other hand, if it is determined that the character 4 is to bedownloaded, the guiding part 21 of the management server 5 requestsdownloading of the character 4 from the character providing server 30which handles a content ID associated with the character 4, on the basisof the telephone number of the first user terminal 2 (S11). At thistime, the link to the character providing server 30 is extracted fromthe link table 28.

Then, the CPU 23 of the management server 5 determines whetherdownloading has been completed, after a predetermined time has passed(S12). If downloading has not been completed, the process waits fordownloading to come to an end.

If it is determined that downloading has been completed, the CPU 23 ofthe management server 5 causes the display part 11 b of the second userterminal 3 to display a picture of an indication to the effect that theacquisition of the character 4 has been completed (S13).

Then, the downloaded character 4 is distributed to the second userterminal 3 (S14), and is displayed on the display part 11 b of thesecond user terminal 3 (S15).

Through the above-described process, the second user terminal 3 candisplay on the display part 11 b the character 4 used by the first userterminal 2.

The sequence in which the first user terminal 2 acquires the character 4of the second user terminal 3 will be described below with reference tothe flowchart shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

First, the CPU, not shown, of the first user terminal 2 determines(S100) whether the first user terminal 2 has received a mail indicatingthe acceptance of a request for chat (in FIG. 1, “INVITATION ACCEPTANCEMAIL”) from the transmitting part 7 b of the second user terminal 3(S100) If the above-mentioned CPU determines that the “INVITATIONACCEPTANCE MAIL” has not been received, the CPU waits for the“INVITATION ACCEPTANCE MAIL” from the second user terminal 3.

If the CPU, not shown, of the first user terminal 2 determines that thefirst user terminal 2 has received the “INVITATION ACCEPTANCE MAIL” fromthe second user terminal 3, the CPU executes the processing of comparingthrough the comparing part 9 a of the first user terminal 2 thetelephone number and the duration ID of the second user terminal 3 thatare stored in the storage table 8 a and the telephone number and theduration ID that have been transmitted from the second user terminal 3(S101).

If it is determined (S102) that the telephone number and the duration IDthat have been transmitted from the second user terminal 3 and thetelephone number and the duration ID of the second user terminal 3 thatare stored in the storage table 8 a are not mutually different, i.e.,are the same, this indicates that the data of the second user terminal 3has not been updated. Namely, in the second user terminal 3 in thiscase, the kind of character to be used during chat has also not beenupdated.

For this reason, since the character 4 associated with the telephonenumber of the first user terminal 2 is stored in the storage table 8 aof the first user terminal 2, the processing of extracting the characterused by the second user terminal 3 from the storage table is executed bythe CPU (S103).

Then, the processing of displaying the character extracted in theabove-mentioned step on the display part 11 a of the first user terminal2 is executed by the CPU (S111).

On the other hand, if it is determined in Step 102 that the telephonenumber and the duration ID that have been transmitted from the firstuser terminal 2 and the telephone number and the duration ID that arestored in the identifier storing part 14 are mutually different, thisindicates that the data of the second user terminal 3 has been updated.

Then, the first user terminal 2 needs to acquire the character which isbeing used by the second user terminal 3. Accordingly, the CPU 23 of themanagement server 5 executes the processing of causing the display part11 a of the first user terminal 2 to display a picture for selectingwhether to download the character (S104). The user selects whether todownload the character (S105).

If it is determined that the character is not to be downloaded from thefirst user terminal 2, the character that has been stored in the storagetable 8 a of the first user terminal 2 is automatically selected (S106).Then, the CPU, not shown, of the first user terminal 2 executes theprocessing of displaying the extracted character on the display part 11a (Sill).

On the other hand, if it is selected that the character 4 is to bedownloaded, the guiding part 21 of the management server 5 executes theprocessing of requesting downloading of the character from the characterproviding server 30 which handles a content ID associated with thecharacter indicative of the second user terminal 3, on the basis of thetelephone number of the second user terminal 3 (S107).

Then, after a predetermined time has passed, the CPU 23 of themanagement server 5 executes the processing of determining whetherdownloading has been completed (S108). If downloading has not beencompleted, the process waits for downloading to come to an end.

If it is determined that downloading has been completed, the CPU 23 ofthe management server 5 executes the processing of causing the displaypart 11 a of the first user terminal 2 to display a picture of anindication to the effect that the acquisition of the character 4 hasbeen completed (S109).

Then, the CPU 23 distributes the downloaded character to the first userterminal 2 (S110), and the distributed character is displayed on thedisplay part 11 a of the first user terminal 2 (S111).

Through the above-described process, the character that is being used bythe second user terminal 3 can be appropriately displayed on the displaypart 11 a of the first user terminal 2.

Namely, according to the communication information sharing system 1 ofthe present embodiment, the character can be shared between the firstuser terminal 2 and the second user terminal 3.

Accordingly, it is also possible to provide the effect of emphasizing amessage from a sender. For example, when a message representative of apleasing sensation is to be transmitted from the first user terminal 2to the second user terminal 3, a character representative of a pleasingcondition may be transmitted together with the message so that thepleasing sensation can be effectively transmitted from the first userterminal 2.

In addition, according to the communication information sharing system 1of the present embodiment, the necessary character needs only to bedownloaded when necessary, so that the user terminal can display acharacter of a remote communication terminal on its own display partwithout storing the character in its memory. Of course, if it istroublesome to download a character each time chat is performed, only acharacter to be frequently used may be stored in the memory.

The present embodiment has been described on the assumption that when acharacter is to be downloaded, the management server 5 makes a requestfor downloading from the character providing server 30, but it is alsopossible to adopt a construction in which, as shown in FIG. 8, the userterminal directly requests downloading of a character from the characterportal Web server 31 which handles a list of links to the characterproviding server 30, and the character is distributed from the characterproviding server 30.

In addition, an accounting system for acquiring a character can also beadded to the communication information sharing system 1 of the presentembodiment.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, it is possible to adopt a constructionin which the communication information sharing system 1 of the presentembodiment is provided with an accounting server 32 which chargesdistribution fees for characters, and it is possible to adoptconstructions such as a construction in which this accounting server 32is installed between the user terminal and the management server 5 sothat charging is performed at the same time that downloading of acharacter is requested from the user terminal and a construction inwhich the accounting server 32 is installed between the characterproviding server 30 and the user terminal so that charging is performedat the same time that a character is provided from the characterproviding server 30.

Then, the users are asked to pay the charged character distribution feestogether with the charges of their mobile telephones.

It is also possible to adopt other constructions which allow users tofreely download characters if the users pay predetermined amounts forgiven terms, such as monthly amounts or annual amounts.

Second Embodiment

A communication information sharing system according to the presentembodiment is a communication system which enables schedule data to beshared between at least two user terminals. The communicationinformation sharing system according to the present embodiment hasapproximately the same construction as the communication informationsharing system according to the first embodiment. Accordingly, the sameportions are denoted by the same reference numerals as those used in thefirst embodiment, and the description of the same portions as those ofthe first embodiment is omitted for the sake of convenience.

As shown in FIG. 9, the communication means of the communicationinformation sharing system 1 according to the present embodiment isassumed to be chat which enables conversational sentences to becommunicated in real time between a user terminal (hereinafter referredto as the first user terminal) 2 which requests alteration of scheduledata of one user and a user terminal (hereinafter referred to as thesecond user terminal) 3 which provides schedule data and receivesaltered schedule data.

The first user terminal 2 registers schedule data of the user in a firstdata server 40 via a network. Similarly, the second user terminal 3 alsoregisters schedule data of its user in a second data server 50 via thenetwork. Identifiers corresponding to their respective schedulers areadded to these schedule data. In the present embodiment, the schedulerof the first user terminal 2 and the scheduler of the second userterminal 3 are assumed to be mutually different.

Furthermore, the communication information sharing system 1 according tothe present embodiment is provided with the management server 5 whichenables the mutual schedule data to be shared between the first userterminal 2 and the second user terminal 3.

As shown in FIG. 9, if neither the first user terminal 2 nor the seconduser terminal 3 has their own schedulers, or if either of the first userterminal 2 and the second user terminal 3 does not correspond to thescheduler of the other, the management server 5 enables both of them toshare their schedule data, by downloading the necessary schedulers orconverting schedulers to corresponding formats.

The system concept of the communication information sharing system 1 ofthe present embodiment is as described above. The system construction ofthe communication information sharing system 1 according to the presentembodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. 2. In thefollowing, as to the constructions of the management server 5 and eachof the user terminals, the description of the same portions as theabove-described portions of the management server 5 of the firstembodiment will be omitted.

First, the system construction of the management server of the presentembodiment shown in FIG. 2 will be described below. The managementserver 5 has the receiving part 12 which receives various kinds of datatransmitted from the first user terminal 2 or the second user terminal 3and the replying part 13 which returns various kinds of processingperformed in the management server 5 to the first user terminal 2 or thesecond user terminal 3.

The management server 5 is also provided with the identifier storingpart 14 which stores various kinds of identifiers contained in datatransmitted from the user terminals. The identifier storing part 14 hasthe content ID table 15 which stores identifiers associated with theschedule data transmitted from both user terminals, i.e., content IDs,the device ID table 16 for identifying the individual user terminals,and the profile ID table 17 which stores profile IDs associated with thedevice IDs.

Incidentally, all of these IDs are associated. Accordingly, if themanagement server 5 is to identify a user terminal, the managementserver 5 can identify the user terminal by tracing transmitted IDs.

Further, the management server 5 is provided with the identifier sharingpart 29 which compensates for the difference between content IDs ofschedule data so that a content ID of schedule data requested from oneof the user terminals and a content ID of the scheduler of the onecoincide with each other.

In this manner, by causing the content ID of the scheduler of the seconduser terminal 3 which is requested from the first user terminal 2 and acontent ID of the scheduler of the first user terminal 2 to coincidewith each other, the schedule data of one of the user terminals and theschedule data of the other can be shared by the mutual users.

In addition, the management server 5 is provided with the guiding part21. If the content ID table 15 does not have a content ID associatedwith the schedule data requested from the first user terminal 2, thisguiding part 21 performs the processing of downloading the necessaryscheduler from a server which performs provision/distribution of variouskinds of schedulers.

Furthermore, a link table 28 which stores addresses linked to the firstdata server 40 and the second data server 50, the address of a link tothe server which perform provision/distribution of various kinds ofschedulers, the addresses of links to download sites, the addresses oflinks to portal webs, and the like, is provided in the guiding part 21.

The system construction of the management server 5 is as describedabove.

The system constructions of the first user terminal 2 and the seconduser terminal 3 of the present embodiment will be described below. Inthe following description, since the first user terminal 2 and thesecond user terminal 3 have similar system constructions, both userterminals will be collectively referred to as the user terminal.

As shown in FIG. 2, the user terminal of the present embodiment has thereceiving part 6 a, 6 b and the transmitting part 7 a, 7 b forperforming communication of data with a remote communication terminal.In these receiving part 6 a, 6 b and transmitting part 7 a, 7 b, thecommunication of schedule data for the users of the respectiveterminals, in addition to conversational sentences, is carried out.

In addition, the user terminal is provided with the input part 10 a, 10b for inputting conversational sentences, and the display part 11 a, 11b which displays a conversational sentence or schedule data transmittedfrom a remote communication terminal.

The system construction of the user terminal is as described above.

The hardware constructions of the management server 5, the first userterminal 2 and the second user terminal 3 in the present embodiment arethe same as those of the first embodiment, the same description isomitted.

A communication information sharing method which operates thecommunication information sharing system 1 according to the presentembodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown inFIGS. 10 and 11.

First, the CPU, not shown, of the first user terminal 2 executes theprocessing of transmitting a message which requests alteration of oraddition to a schedule, by means of chat from the transmitting part 7 aof the first user terminal 2 shown in FIG. 2 to the second user terminal3 (S200).

When the message is transmitted from the first user terminal 2, the CPU,not shown, of the second user terminal 3 determines whether thereceiving part 6 b has received the message (S201). If the CPUdetermines that the receiving part 6 b has not received the message fromthe first user terminal 2, the CPU executes the processing of causingthe display part 11 a of the first user terminal 2 to display a pictureto the effect that the message has not been received (S202).

On the other hand, if the CPU, not shown, of the second user terminal 3determines that the receiving part 6 b has received the mail from thefirst user terminal 2, the CPU executes the processing of transmitting areply mail to the request for alteration of or addition to the schedule,from the second user terminal 3 (S203).

When the receiving part 6 a of the first user terminal 2 receives thereply mail, the CPU, not shown, of the first user terminal 2 determineswhether the mail has been received at the receiving part 6 a (S204). Ifthe CPU, not shown, of the first user terminal 2 determines that themail has not been received at the receiving part 6 a, the CPU waits forthe mail to be received.

On the other hand, if the CPU, not shown, of the first user terminal 2determines that the mail has been received at the receiving part 6 a,the CPU activates an application stored in a ROM, not shown, of thefirst user terminal 2 (S205). An application for requesting scheduledata registered in the data servers from both user terminals to themanagement server 5 is stored in the ROM of each of the first userterminal 2 and the second user terminal 3 in the present embodiment.This application is executed by the CPU, not show, of each of the userterminals.

If the above-mentioned application is executed by the CPU of the firstuser terminal 2, the application requests the management server 5 toacquire the schedule data registered by the second user terminal 3(S206).

The management server 5 which has received this request determineswhether the scheduler of the first user terminal 2 and the scheduler ofthe second user terminal 3 which has registered the requested scheduledata are the same as or compatible with each other (S207). Namely, it isdetermined here whether the content ID associated with the scheduler ofthe first user terminal 2 and the content ID associated with thescheduler of the second user terminal 3 coincide with each other.

If the CPU 23 of the management server 5 determines that both contentIDs do not coincide, the processing of causing these content IDs tocoincide with each other is performed (S11).

As this processing, for example, the processing of downloading ascheduler applicable to the second user terminal 3 from a server sitewhich provides/distributes schedulers can be adopted. This processing ispreferably executed by a program stored in the ROM 22. In addition, asthis processing, the conversion processing of causing both content IDsto coincide with each other by means of a predetermined program can beadopted.

Then, after both content IDs have coincided, the process proceeds toStep 209.

On the other hand, if the CPU 23 of the management server 5 determinesin Step 207 that both content IDs coincide with each other, the CPU 23of the management server 5 transmits to the first user terminal 2 anaddress to be linked to the second data server 50 which stores theschedule data of the second user terminal 3 (S209).

If this address is received by the receiving part 6 a of the first userterminal 2 (S210), it is determined that the first user terminal 2 hasacquired the schedule data. Then, the acquired schedule data is editedat the first user terminal 2 (S211).

When the editing of the schedule data is completed, the CPU, not show,of the first user terminal 2 executes the processing of transmitting theschedule data from the transmitting part 7 a to the management server 5(S212).

Then, when the schedule data is received, the CPU 23 of the managementserver 5 executes the processing of transmitting the schedule data tothe second data server 50 (S213).

The second data server 50 which has received the schedule data notifiesthe second user terminal 3 that the schedule data has been edited(S214). Incidentally, it is assumed that the processing of notificationof the schedule data is performed by a CPU, not shown, which is providedin the second data server 50.

Then, when the receiving part 6 b of the second user terminal 3 receivesthe schedule data transmitted from the second data server 50, the CPU ofthe second user terminal 3 performs the processing of causing thedisplay part 11 b to display this schedule data (S215).

The processing process of the communication information sharing systemaccording to the present embodiment is as described above.

As described above, since the communication information sharing systemaccording to the present embodiment is provided with the managementserver 5 which manages the link to the first data server 40 or thesecond data server 50, even if the schedule data of the first userterminal 2 and the second user terminal 3 exist at different locations,both user terminals can share the schedule data.

It is to be noted that although in the present embodiment the contentIDs of the schedule data are converted in the management server 5, thisconversion processing may also be performed by the application of eachof the user terminals.

In addition, according to the communication information sharing systemof the present embodiment, since edited schedule data can becommunicated among a plurality of user terminals, a user who hasreceived the edited schedule data can omit the process of againinputting an edited content. Accordingly, erroneous input can beprevented.

Furthermore, since the management server 5 manages content IDs, profileIDs and device IDs which identify user terminals, data conversion canalso be effected in the first data server 40 or the second data server50. Accordingly, it is possible to lighten the burden of providing dataconverting functions in the respective user terminals.

Industrial Applicability

The invention can be used for information distribution in mobileterminals such as mobile telephones provided with display functionsconnectable to networks.

1. A communication information sharing system which enables data to becommunicated between at least two user terminals comprising: amanagement server which manages identifiers added to informationsymbolic of the respective user terminals, the management serverincluding identifier sharing means for causing an identifier to be usedby one of the user terminals for transmission of data and an identifierto be used by another user terminal for reception of data to coincidewith one another.
 2. A communication information sharing systemincluding at least two user terminals connected via a network to performcommunication of data therebetween, and a management server whichperforms management of identifiers added to information symbolic of therespective user terminals comprising: transmitting means fortransmitting the identifiers together with the data; receiving means forreceiving the identifiers; identifier sharing means for causing anidentifier to be returned to another of the user terminals to coincidewith an identifier transmitted from one of the user terminals; replyingmeans for returning the coincident identifier; receiving means forreceiving the identifier; acquiring means for acquiring informationassociated with the identifier; and outputting means for outputting theinformation.
 3. A management server in a communication informationsharing system which manages identifiers respectively added toinformation symbolic of at least two user terminals which performcommunication of data therebetween comprising: receiving means forreceiving an identifier transmitted from a remote communicationterminal; identifier sharing means for causing the identifier and anidentifier to be returned to coincide with each other; guiding means forperforming guidance for acquiring, on the basis of the coincidentidentifier, information associated with the identifier; and replyingmeans for transmitting the coincident identifier to another of the userterminals.
 4. A user terminal in an information communication system,which constitutes each of at least two transmission-and reception-sideuser terminals which perform communication of data therebetween via anetwork comprising: identifier storing means for storing informationsymbolic of a remote communication terminal and an identifier associatedwith the information; and comparing means for comparing the informationwith information stored previously in the identifier storing means theuser terminal acquiring predetermined information on the basis of acomparison result.
 5. A communication information sharing system whichconstitutes a communication system which enables conversationalsentences to be communicated between at least two user terminalscomprising: a management server which manages identifiers added tocharacters symbolic of the respective user terminals, the managementserver including identifier sharing means for causing an identifier tobe used by one of the user terminals for transmission of aconversational sentence and an identifier to be used by another of theuser terminals for reception of the conversational sentence to coincidewith each other.
 6. A communication information sharing system whichconstitutes a communication system including at least two user terminalsconnected via a network to perform communication of conversationalsentences therebetween, and a management server which performsmanagement of identifiers added to a character symbolic of therespective user terminals comprising: transmitting means fortransmitting the identifiers together with the conversational sentences;receiving means for receiving the identifiers; identifier sharing meansfor causing an identifier to be returned to another of the userterminals to coincide with an identifier transmitted from one of theuser terminals; replying means for returning the coincident identifier;receiving means for receiving the identifier; acquiring means foracquiring the character associated with the identifier; and displaymeans for displaying the character.
 7. A communication informationsharing system which constitutes a communication system which enablesconversational sentences to be communicated between at least two userterminals comprising: a management server which manages links todatabases which store personal information on users, the managementserver including identifier sharing means for causing identifiers ofboth user terminals to coincide with each other so that personalinformation having an identifier transmitted from one of the userterminals can be outputted at another of the user terminals.
 8. Acommunication information sharing system according to claim 7, whereinsaid the personal information is information relative to schedules.
 9. Acommunication information sharing system according to claim 7, whereinsaid the personal information is information relative to addresses. 10.A communication information sharing system according to claim 7, furthercomprising identifier storing means which stores identifiers of links toservers or databases which manage personal information associated withidentifiers.
 11. A communication information sharing system according toclaim 1, wherein said the management server includes issuing means forissuing identifiers to identify the respective user terminals.
 12. Acommunication information sharing system according to claim 11, whereinsaid the management server includes registering means for registering anidentifier transmitted from any of the user terminals in predeterminedidentifier storing means when the identifier is not stored in theidentifier storing means.
 13. A communication information sharing systemaccording to claim 12, wherein said the management server includesupdating means for updating registration of identifiers.
 14. Acommunication information sharing system according to claim 13, whereinsaid the management server displays a character symbolic of one of theuser terminals on a display device of another of the user terminals. 15.A communication information sharing system according to claim 14,wherein said the identifier storing means stores identifiers whichidentify the respective user terminals.
 16. A communication informationsharing system according to claim 15, wherein said the identifierstoring means stores identifiers which associate the user terminals withone another.
 17. A communication information sharing system according toclaim 16, wherein said the identifier storing means stores an identifierof a link to another server which manages characters associated with therespective identifiers.
 18. A communication information sharing systemaccording to claim 1, wherein said the at least two user terminalsenable conversational sentences and characters to be communicated inreal time.
 19. A communication information sharing method to beperformed by at least two user terminals connected via a network toperform communication of conversational sentences therebetween, and amanagement server which performs management of identifiers added to acharacter symbolic of the respective user terminals comprising: a stepof transmitting the identifiers together with the conversationalsentences; a step of receiving the identifiers; a step of causing anidentifier to be returned to another of the user terminals to coincidewith an identifier transmitted from one of the user terminals; a step ofreturning the coincident identifier; a step of receiving the identifier;a step of acquiring a character associated with the identifier; and astep of displaying the character on a display device of said anotheruser terminal.
 20. A communication information sharing programcomputer-executable by at least two user terminals connected via anetwork to perform communication of conversational sentencestherebetween, and a management server which performs management ofidentifiers added to a character symbolic of the respective userterminals comprising: a step of transmitting the identifiers togetherwith the conversational sentences; a step of receiving the identifiers;a step of causing an identifier to be returned to another of the userterminals to coincide with an identifier transmitted from one of theuser terminals; a step of returning the coincident identifier; a step ofreceiving the identifier; a step of acquiring a character associatedwith the identifier; and a step of displaying the character on a displaydevice of said another user terminal.
 21. A communication informationsharing method to be performed by at least two user terminals connectedvia a network to perform communication of a conversational sentencetherebetween, and a management server which performs management of anidentifier added to personal information inputted from each of the userterminals comprising: a step of transmitting personal information towhich an identifier is added, together with the conversational sentence;a step of receiving the personal information; a step of causing theidentifier added to the personal information to coincide with anidentifier of personal information to be returned to another of the userterminals; a step of returning personal information based on thecoincident identifier; a step of receiving the personal information; astep of editing the personal information; a step of transmitting thepersonal information to another of the user terminals; and a step ofdisplaying the personal information on a display device of the userterminal.
 22. A communication information sharing program to be executedby a computer of a management server which performs management ofidentifiers added to personal information inputted from at least twouser terminals connected via a network to perform communication ofconversational sentences therebetween comprising: a step of transmittingpersonal information to which an identifier is added, together with theconversational sentence; a step of receiving the personal information; astep of causing the identifier added to the personal information tocoincide with an identifier of personal information to be returned toanother of the user terminals; a step of returning personal informationbased on the coincident identifier; a step of receiving the personalinformation; a step of editing the personal information; a step oftransmitting the personal information to another of the user terminals;and a step of displaying the personal information on a display device ofthe user terminal.